Mute
by syaoran no hime
Summary: In one of the perennial NaruHina episodes, mute thoughts of the men in Hinata's life are heard. HinaxNaru,Shino,Neji.


A/N: This is how I imagined my fave Naru/Hina episode to be Multi-POV with a touch of OOC, but hey, give this Hina worshipper a break! huggles her Naru/Hina, Neji/Hina, Shino/Hina, and othernarutomales/Hina SD dollies I wub yu, Hinata-chan!

………………….

You can stop if you want to. Harming you is not my real purpose for continuing this battle.

Surrender.

I would relent, that I promise.

Dakedo…

Every ragged breath you take tells me that you would continue this insanity. Every pair of eyes that watch us knows the outcome of this battle. The weak could never win over the strong. It was the law of nature that dictated so.

So why do you have to keep on getting up when I could always shove you down the ground? What is this show of stupidity for, Princess?

Have you still not realized which is which despite of the many times I have demonstrated this to you? Do you not recognize the limitations of your meager strength? That no matter what you do, you can never change what you are—a weakling.

And once more, you fell down. Are you trying to squeeze out compassion within me? Then you will fail, Princess Hinata. Emotions are burdens to true warriors, and I am determined to show the whole of our clan how wrong they are in underestimating my family.

You're on your feet again?

How long can you endure pain?

Your pride will only bring you death. You know that, yet your eyes deny.

Surrender, Princess. While you still can, admit defeat.

………………………………………..

……………………………………….

You were the last person I would ever expect to make it this far.

People may say that you made it to this point because of Kiba and I. Perhaps, there is an element of truth in that too. When you were first assigned as my teammate, I remembered my disappointment. I knew at once that you weren't made for the life of a ninja. You bore an aura of gentleness, one unfit for tasks that we should be given during the Chuunin examinations. You would just be a nuisance, a burden.

Yet it was the same gentleness that drew both Kiba and I to you.

In every battle, you would always be our nurse. You rarely fight, if you do at all. You just want to stay clear from battles, contented to look out for us.

Afterwards, you would take care of the good food and the music of her contemplative silence.

Yes, silence. You would rarely talk to us, unless it was necessary. In a hushed, apologetic tone coming out as a rushing stream of stammers, you would ask if our wounds incurred in recent battles were healed, or if we liked dinner.

Simple trivial things that meant nothing to ordinary people, but meant everything for someone extraordinary like you.

Perhaps, deep within me, it meant something to me too, even if I refuse to acknowledge that.

You had grown dear to both of us. Perhaps it was your tender smiles that did it. Maybe it was the purity of your innocent soul. Whatever it was, Kiba and I had understood mutually that you are a small fragile blossom to protect against all odds.

My fists clenched as I watched you launch a feeble attack on Hyuuga Neji, your opponent for this match. I could already anticipate the blows that would come your way…

…and Kiba and I wouldn't be there to shield you from it.

I couldn't handle the fury building up in me. Emotions stronger than twitches of urges to kill or to breathe frighten me. And the eddy of helplessness, anger, concern, and fear for your safety was seeping through my usually composed system. I have no idea what I should do—stay still or move, watch the fight or turn my back on it.

Even if I watch, I couldn't help you. And if I do close my eyes—no one would know anyway, with the forbidding eyepiece I wear--, I couldn't close my ears. I would still hear your moans of agony. And I still couldn't help.

So I chose to watch uselessly and wish that somehow, you faint. I know you wouldn't give up, not when he is watching you—something that you had yearned for many times before.

I could only rely on circumstances—that it would be merciful and intervene.

I'm sorry. I know that this is your chance to show all of us the strength no one imagined you had. I admit that you surprised even me. Your intensity right now in battle never occurred to me as something that you could give.

I should be proud for you, teammate.

But good Lord, why do you have to be in great pain?

…………………………

………………………….

That fire in your eyes, I recognize.

It is the same as mine.

The fire of determination. The fire of fortitude to put up a good fight. I can feel what you can feel.

You will not lose, at least not without pride.

Your courage…it wasn't something I expected from you. You, who were always the strangely quiet girl with black hair and gray eyes, and yes, with the perpetual blush…

But here you stand below us, showing all of us the difference between desperation and might.

You've changed…and it was for the better.

The odds may not look good, but the person I'm seeing now hasn't look much better than now.

Bruises and blood cannot mar the magnificence of your spirit. He may defeat you in this battle, but he worked hard for it.

In the truest sense, you are a warrior.

Stand up. That's right. Get up and tell the world their mistake of calling you 'yowai'.

I believe in you. Just as how you believed in me—the only one who did aside from my team and my sensei.

………………………..

………………………..

……………………….

My heart was struggling inside my broken ribcage. With a failing heart, I sensed that one more blow from Neji' nii-san would jeopardize my life.

Every muscle in my body ached, screaming in pain. Breathing had been laborious for me, and my every intake of air was like slicing my chest with a blade.

I wanted desperately to cry. I had spent so many days and nights training, but nothing prepared me for this kind of suffering. I would never have imagined my body could take so much torment.

"Surrender already, Princess Hinata," the bored voice of Neji said. "There's no use in pretending to be strong for we both know you aren't. You want to give up already, don't you?"

Give up?

I inhaled deeply to stop myself from trembling and showing my opponent my agony. That alone nearly made my chest break. Yet I forced myself to get up. Up on my feet. Up and face my foe squarely.

I placed my scrunched fist in front of my chest to support my upper body and shook my head slowly. "I couldn't…" My voice barely registered in the wind, but somehow I heard my own voice and saw his reaction.

I decided to continue. "I couldn't…because I can't allow myself to look pathetic in front of the boy I love…"

In my mind appeared the image of that boy…the same boy I secretly watched from afar, adored from afar, and learned to love from afar.

My secret love that made my days worth living because he gave me the inspiration to find my reason for being myself.

The boy that gave me courage when I had nothing to give myself.

Who inspired me to become better than what people expects of a lame, weak girl like me.

By instinct, I looked up at him. My eyes were met by his steady gaze. He was clearly worried, but he wanted me to go on and fight with my best strength. He wanted me to win, not in this match, but the inner battle within me. My fight to be better than what people led me to believe. To become the person he could see in me that no one did.

My eyes shook in gratitude…

…and love.

Naruto-kun…

No matter what, this fight is for you.

…………………….

end


End file.
